Mergers and acquisitions in the global context: The role of human resource management

The frequency and scale of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have increased significantly during the past two decades. This is in spite of prestigious failure rates and some high profile, costly missteps such as Daimler-Chrysler or AOL-Time Warner. Research has identified that in addition to the cultural challenges that are ever-present in global M&A, significant differences in institutional environments, corporate governance practices, and market design between developed and emerging economies can further complicate cross border M&A. This work further points to the importance of extending existing theory and evidence on M&A by examining it in new national and institutional settings. The several papers in this Special Issue of Journal of World Business address these key issues in the context of human resource management.